Scarlet Night, White Moon
by Sha Yurigami
Summary: "Those that hunt monsters beware they themselves don't become them." Those were the last words muttered to Summer Rose efore her world cam crushing down. She didn't care. She finally had a chance to safe her babies and she won't let anything happen to them! (A "What-if" with Summer Rose walking the path towards happiness and redemption together with a cranky old raven)
1. White Night

Scarlet Night, White Moon

Summer

When she woke up that morning, her whole body felt off. Her eyes hurt, her nose was burning and she felt as if her head was going to burst. The sheets that once covered her laid in shreds all around her. Her fingers hurt, just as much as her knuckles, forearm and chest. The pain in her belly grew slowly numb while the aching of her legs grew by the minute.

She knew what happened. She didn't want to.

Slowly she raised her head feeling the dull gray light touching her skin. Cold, despite the summer raging outside. Cicidas, dragonflies and all those other multi-legged creatures were singing and dancing as if the past two months never happened. She threw the pillow beneath her head through the already broken window, the silky yarn adoring her skin tattered and falling of her shoulders.

Dust from outside drifted inside, forming a path little fairies would follow to sing their songs of joy and sorrow.

Tiredly she lifted her aching arm, wiping away at her dry eyelids. She needed to get ready and make breakfast for everyone.

Dragging her feet off the mattress her body slowly made way to her closet door, to get dressed into her huntress gear. Lately, she thought, that she wore this dress every day. Though just like in her student days she slowly dressed herself without ushering a thought, nor without a sound.

After putting on her boots, she tied the laces tightly and made her way out of the broken door. She didn't register the sound and feel of brisk wood beneath her feet or crunching of broken glass as she walked past queer pictures.

Slowly after each painful step, she walked down the creaking staircase. Ignoring the blond mess lying on the couch, she made her way to the kitchen.

She took a carton of long overdue milk and poured it into a frying pan, mixed honey and a drop of salt into it and slowly started to stir the mixture over a medium flame. After a minute she grabbed her …s cereals and mixed them into her mess with strong and careful stirs of her spatula.

Leaving her creation simmer in the pan she took four slightly broken plates out of the cupboard. Her fingers ached from the weight and ignored the feeling of sharp edges digging into her skin as she sat the tableware atop the kitchen counter and took the two plastic cups with …'s and …'s names written on and placed them next to the smaller, less damaged plates.

While the pan began to burn, she mustered every ounce of air in her lungs to stay where it was.

" …! …! Breakfast is ready!" she called, she breathed, but her throat tightened and her heart beat agonizingly slow.

"Summer?" came a voice, rough and husky with a tint of alcohol wafting around his mouth "What are you doing, Summer?!" the owner of the voice screamed rushing to the frying pan and throwing its flaming content out of the broken wall from whence he came. She saw the familiar red cape, tattered, burned and soaked in black oozing blood and a face she once saw filled with life.

"Qrow."

He turned to face her with wide open eyes, yet she couldn't fathom just what he was thinking. "So now you remember what my name is." he spat taking out a silver flask from his back pocket. She didn't need to know what he drank, just that it lost any effect on her weeks ago.

Slow heavy steps followed by the fluttering of his cape paced around the broken living room. "Last week you forgot our names" Qrow spat gulping down his beverage "the week before Tai lost any sense of himself" he kicked a chair to her direction, which she took to steady herself.

Her silver eyes wandered over to the blond on the couch, eyes blank and mouth held tight. She remembered the once strong and emotion filled man She remembered the bright and cheerful blue eyes looking over their little family, his smiles and the way he took …'s and …'s hands when they first started to walk. She remembered … getting angry at him and that he should let the girls try it on their own.

The distant memory of his tear stricken face as he watched the toddlers who fell on the ground due to his "helpful" hands.

She remembered _her_ and tears welled -she had prayed that they had dried up- falling from her eyelids.

Now that blond lovable oaf laid with vacant eyes on the couch.

"Damn it all" Qrow said not even raising his voice as he pat the dormant laying blond, the sword in his hand quivering while his eyes remained unfocused on the picture frame laying to his feet. Tears slowly welled and fell onto the unbroken glass.

"I…I don't really want to remember them. Heck it'd been better had it been me that…Summer" he turned to her, his eyes looking even more lost "they haunt me, like so many others, Summer." He let go of his friends hair and leaned down to grab the frame. Carefully as if holding onto the weight of the world, he lifted it and caressed its surface longingly, while she still struggled to comprehend her own feelings.

She approached him, the pain growing in her brain worsening the longer he held, the longer he stared onto that frame. She approached him, the frame and extended her hand to take it off his'.

Yet he saw her and looked at her directly in the eyes.

Ruby irises.

Ru…b…y…

Her eyes widened, her hands grabbed her face while a cry of agony and sorrow burst out of her throat.

"Summer?"

She ignored it.

She ignored the pain, the embrace of strong arms around her frame or soothing words whispered into her ears.

It grew.

The pain it grew in her throat.

It grew so much, so hard, it became unbearable. The screams returned, the darkness surrounding her, her loved ones, her…And yet despite the growing uncertainties and the horrors she wasn't ready to face yet…

Then she saw, not with her eyes -even if she couldn't understand why- a sliver of silver.

A weapon.

A sword.

She trashed around in the hold around her, threw her arms and body until Qrow released her and she grabbed the sword.

"Summer! Get a hold dammit!" Qrow screamed holding up his hands "They're gone! Everything's gone! Ruby! Yang! Rav-"

"Don't say their names!" she cried, she whimpered, repeating over and over the same four/five words like a mantra, slowly, slowly lowering the blade but not releasing it.

She knew what Qrow was doing, she wasn't ready to face it yet.

"You have to face it Sum…you're our leader."

"Shut up!"

"No I won't. Sum, we lost. The war is over. Did you look outside lately? The mist" his eyes lowered and searched the ground "That red mist…it's proof, we failed. Remember what Oz said. Looks like our _Remnant_ just…" he gritted his teeth, growling like the beasts they used to hunt until they…

Qrow held his own face, holding on to the shreds of his frame of what he used to be "-just didn't cut it. _Those who hunt monster, beware they don't become them_ I always hated how he said that…" Qrow remained still, looking at her with a single black tear dropping from his right eye. "Face it Summer, we can't go back to how it used to be."

"No…" she whispered over and over while her friend leaned against the couch.

"It's gone, and the only thing left to do is going out with a blaze."

"You want to die"

"No, I just don't want to turn into a monster."

"No, no nononononononono NO; No not you too! Don't Do It Qrow!" She couldn't bear the pain, the suffocating atmosphere. Screaming she left out of the hole Qrow made, not hearing his last whisper. Whether it was because the shreds of humanity left in her chest or the numbing pain while looking at her friend … Qrow wouldn't know. Despite that he smiled, eyes growing vacant.

"Only one can leave Sum. Better it's you than any of us." he whispered looking into the distance.

There he saw it.

At first he didn't know what he was looking. A speck of red, the ruins _at Emerald Forest. He felt like he floated in the air, hovering above the ground yet unable to free himself from the ice that encased his tail._

 _The speck approached him with speed he'd only seen once before. His eyes widened as he saw the figure approaching his head with a scythe he'd loved to wield. A girl, so young yet so full of energy, black hair with red tips adoring her head and silver eyes so full of life that Qrow didn't care any longer if he'd stay alive._

 _The last thing he felt was the sweltering pride in his chest when he knew who it was that took him off to a better place._

 _A kinder world._

* * *

She ran.

Sword in hand and chest bursting in pain, yet she didn't allow the fatigue to catch up to the rest of her body.

She ran.

Not caring as the world around her was turning red and the mist slowly took away the ground beneath her feet.

She ran.

Until everything was white and she felt a soft tap on her right shoulder!

She spun around, ready to slash at whoever it was that approached her, yet her eyes widened when the only thing she saw was her own face. Paler, yet more alive than she herself felt. The one in front of her smiled and moved her lips, yet the sound of her words disappeared within the static noise the world -the white- was bombarding her with.

Her double's gentle hands guided her towards where the noise wasn't as bad. In fact it slowly started to disappear and she watched with scared eyes how the mirror of herself was slowly starting to dissolve into white rose petals.

" _I can't take you farther than this…"_ the double's voice whispered to her and for the first time she truly believed that it was real.

"I-I don't un-" the soft hand caressing her cheek told her to stop thinking and the smile on her mirror's face told her the truth she didn't want to understand.

" _Go, they need you" she whispered to herself just as the form she held slowly wilted away, but she knew that…_

The mist slowly lifted, leaving her standing in the middle of a forest. The ground was moist, the sword heavy yet reminded her that she lived. The pain was still there but she pushed onward. Nothing made sense anyway so why should she think about it.

Through her red hair, which fell over her eyes tinted the view of her surrounding in a mix of red and black.

The sound of the forest however was silent and stilted. She knew not to fear or else they would find her but aside from the eery silence only the faint sound of clacking could be heard.

She knew that sound. Her eyes widened and she dragged the sword behind here while running towards it. That sound wasn't good.

It was the sound of fighting.

Somebody was fighting in the distance and she couldn't bear the thought that either … or … were in the middle of that!

* * *

She watched with impassive eyes how the villagers tried to defend themselves from them. It was so easy to find their provisions and even easier to find the Dust they tried to hog off the SDC. A mild hum escaped her lips, not that anybody could see it with her helmet covering her head.

When has I become so easy to take from others?

Then again the strong live and the weak…

Of course she had to think about them now. Not like she hadn't left them behind and disappeared like the phantom she tried to be. She was the only one who was clever enough to leave before Ozpin could get a hold of them more than he already did.

"..."

She cannot deny though that she missed something. Something that was weak and unnecessary. There was no need for it.

Out of habit she looked up, focusing on the ever distant and shattered moo- for but a second. For just the tiniest of moments. For a single blink of an eye she saw a full moon. Not shattered but whole. And just like that the illusion disappeared.

"Maybe I'm not so far from madness as I've thought." she whispered holding her head in her left palm until she heard something familiar carried through the wind.

It was approaching her. Timid legs. Timid steps. Timid huffs of air. And she felt her entire body reacting to it as if it had already gone through the motions before.

Then just for a single second she looked back and never wanted to turn around ever again.

Heavy. Her steps, her heart. Everything felt heavy but she couldn't stop her feet from moving. Couldn't stop out of reasons that were already beyond her tired mind.

She felt numb, yet didn't break down and finally saw a clearing in front of her. A clearing with a single Grimm standing in front of her.

A Grimm with surprisingly human features.

Black feathers on its back like a nevermore, resembling hair, a bone mask hiding instead of the face and … a skirt?

Her steps faltered.

Her eyes widened.

Her heart stopped.

A single name leaving her lips.

"R-Raven…"

* * *

She couldn't be here. No it was impossible. There was no way she was standing in front of her. No way that after all those years she would be alive. Yet everything inside of her conflicted over the appearance of the woman in front of her.

"R-Raven…" the woman spoke, the tone hollow, disbelieving, but to hear the voice she never thought she had missed, once again mutter her name.

Whether it was out of instinct or something else she did not know, but just as the woman in front of her collapsed she rushed at her and held onto that tiny frame.

Whatever possessed her to do such an action, even going as far as holding onto the _warm_ body of this weak and honestly speaking pathetic creature, she did not know.

She did not care.

Something fell into the abyss she tried to create -the hole in her heart- something that woke up what laid dormant within her heart. A tiny ember of fire lighting up what she desired to let go.

"Dammit Summer…every damn time…" she whispered as something warm fell from her eyelids.

* * *

 _A/N: Honestly speaking this story existed since August of Last year and I originally intended to do a co-written story with (Insert name here) but I haven't heard from them in months except that they got married. Congrats once again in case you're reading this, But damn was I itching to write this story. Hope you don't hold it out against me and if you wanna join hands on this project again you know how to approach me!_

 _Once again I'm sorry for the low-key uninspired story. Hope you all find it in yourself to give it a shot and if you're interest in my writing or drawings give my or Pixiv a visit. I'll try to update regularly XP_

 _Yours dear,_

 _Sha Yurigami_

 _P.s. This story basically takes place in a better world in which Volume 5 didn't play out like an exposition hub and with characters actually doing something! Also fuck Taiyang for assuming his daughter losing her arm is the same as a fucking tantrum! Fuck Ozpin for dragging Oscar into affairs that are beyond the poor boy's understanding! Fuck Hazel for being such a stereotype despite being the most interesting idiot before his backstory reveal! And fuck you Writers for obstructing the animation crew and telling them not to go wild on the action scenes!_


	2. Scarlet Night

When she woke up the memories of the last moments before her collapsing played over her mind. Over and over again like a bad dream repeating itself over and over. Yet this was different. This was all different. Her. She. Why was she?

She sat up from the makeshift bed she laid on, threw the sheets aside to reveal herself barely clothed. A tired sigh formed on her lips when she thought about the implications but it passed like so many others did. She saw Qrow's sword which she took before…before…

Her eyes opened wide and she let out a hollow scream.

* * *

She massaged the bridge of her nose. Whatever had possessed her it wasn't letting her go and it unnerved her. How could she still feel that way after all those years. Once she thought that her heart had hardened like the steel of her old blade.

Once she thought she had let go of what tied her to _them_.

To be confronted with the one person she had given up on meeting ever again. To feel the warmth she sought after so long ago and yet denied to feel either the friendship nor the partnership they shared.

Raven took a deep breath, ignoring the looks of her men, and moved to inspect the crates they filled with last nights bounty. Had it been any other day, or hunt, she might have yelled for the lot not to get complacent. It had been a while since they gathered this much and truthfully speaking she had a feeling that they'll need every scrap they could fin-

A scream, muffled it might have been, could be heard from her tent. Without a second thought she rushed past her people, sparing her prodigy a glance, before throwing aside the makeshift entrance and looking at a broken woman.

"Summer!" she shouted going to the woman's side and holding her shoulders tightly "Summer! Look at me! Look. At. Me." she repeated over and over watching with baited breaths how the one before her slowly started to calm down. "Shh. It's okay. It's okay. Take deep breaths. Deep. Calm. Breaths."

Never would she have thought that it was her who calmed Summer Rose down. Heck she never thought that the woman before her could even break to this extent.

"R-Raven…" her companion slowly calmed down. Slowly looked up into her eyes. Raven had to hold back the urge to avert her eyes. Had to fight the desire to run away.

The last time she looked into those pools of molten silver was when she ran away from everything.

"Raven…Raven!" Summer began to repeat her name over and over, actively starting to cling onto the hands she held the woman with and releasing tears "You're real, right? You're real." sobs escaped those slightly swollen lips while her old friend particularly threw herself into Raven's arms.

She didn't know how to coop with that. Never before had she had the urge to simultaneously run away and hold onto something and those conflicting feelings weren't helped when the woman she always wanted to be honest with was so earnestly clinging onto her.

Against her better judgment she eased her arms around Summer holding onto the woman lightly in fear of actually breaking her. She wanted to laugh at her own stupidity. Who would embrace someone whose identity they hadn't confirmed yet? Despite those thoughts the feeling of those fragile yet strong arms around her brought back memories of a past long gone.

"I'm real Sum." she hadn't used that nickname since their days at Beacon. A small smile breaking on her lips, before it disappeared "Have you calmed down a little?" she asked at which the crying woman nodded before shaking her head and holding tighter onto Raven's taller frame. _Dammit Summer…every damn time…_ She thought gently stroking her friend's back.

Vernal was standing at the entrance, watching them interact, and Raven motioned for her to bring some provisions.

When she brought Summer to their camp she hadn't handed her to any of her tribesmen -she knew full well how depraved they could be but it didn't matter as long as she had a place to call her own- and took note how thin and frail her body was. As if she hadn't eaten anything in a long time.

Was this really Summer Rose?

This could be one of Salem's twisted games. After all she had Watts on her side. No. this was different.

It felt like someone was telling her to get a grip on something.

She wanted to shove the smaller woman aside and tell her to get up and stop being a bother, but knowing Summer she'd just give the bandit leader one of those damn puppy dog eyes and Raven knew that she couldn't handle them as unprepared as she was. Instead she lifted her friend by holding her butt and carried the smaller woman over to the bed.

Once sat down she gently pat her head "You have to eat something." Right on cue Vernal came back with a bag from the storage leaving it at Raven's feet and excused herself from them. She picked it up and opened it holding a piece of beef jerky in front of Summer's mouth.

Summer, in her infinite stubbornness, didn't touch the piece of meat and instead continued to look at her. It was starting to unnerve her and she couldn't help but feel irritation growing.

So she took it upon herself to shove the piece of food into Summer's mouth. And immediately regretted doing so as she watched her sweets loving friend grimace at the salty taste of the beef. It had been so long since she felt herself smile and she couldn't help but enjoy the sweet silence while it lasted.

However it lasted a little too long for her liking and she began to worriedly look at Summer who looked into the distance absentmindedly "Raven." the woman began and Raven couldn't help but feel the the dread creeping up her spine.

"You're alive…"

It was a statement she honestly hadn't seen coming and she felt her stomach tighten from the implication. "What do you mean? Summer, what happened to you?"

"No, nononono, no…" once again the woman started to panic and Raven grew tired of it.

"Sum. Look at me and start telling me where you came from. They said you went MIA!" her old friend looked at her in confusion, tilting her head slightly before shaking it.

"No… I-I am here…" and the woman started to cry once more holding onto her head.

It took a while for Summer to calm down once again. Raven had to force feed her while she cried and from all that babbling she couldn't get any useful information.

"Ruby!" Summer suddenly yelled holding onto her shoulders and looking into her eyes "Where are our girls Raven. Ruby. Yang. Where are they?!"

That hinted to at least some of her suspicions. Had Summer been captured and tortured? No, this woman would rather go out fighting then let somebody keep her away from her children. But something bothered her. Why was she here? "Calm down Sum. Yang is with Tai on Patch and Ruby is on her way to Mistral together with Qrow."

"…What…Why…Why are." Of course she wouldn't know about that. Raven knew had Summer the choice she would never have come here. She would have gone straight to either of her girls and be done with it, though she needed to make sure what happened first.

"Sum, what happened. What is the last thing you remember?" she needed to be careful, for the first time in her life, because the Summer in front of her was clearly more unstable both mentally and physically. If there was a possibility that she didn't know what happened in Beacon…

"The mist." _The what?_ "The mist. I-I took Qrow's sword a-and ran…" she seemed to struggle to remember, though at least that explaine- _Wait a second_ only now did she realize what Summer just said, but she didn't want to interrupt her prematurely.

"And then…and then everything went white… and I saw…" Summer paused, eyes widened slightly, before holding onto her head. Raven placed both her hands on Summer's cheeks gently stroking them. Never had she done to her partner what she was doing now. Not once did she caress the smaller woman in any way as she did today and she wondered, marveled at the smaller woman's softness.

"I saw me." was all she muttered before tears fell from her eyes. Okay so Raven wasn't sure what was going on or why Summer just said that but she was still delirious. Not that she blamed her considering that the woman front of her clearly had went through some sort of hell. Be it figuratively or literal. "…Raven. Why are you here?"

She wasn't sure herself why she answered as she did "I ran." and she wasn't sure why it always happened when she was in front of Summer. Her heart had always betrayed her, always hurt her and she didn't want anything to do with all the nonsense that Ozpin had them go through all the time.

"Okay." Summer answered, chewing on a piece of meat loaf. Raven had to pause her thoughts to comprehend what Summer just said.

"A-and you aren't going to scold me?" this damn woman always forced her to act out of character!

"Why?" the Rose tilted her head, eyes big and innocent, and Raven knew she stepped into a trap. That damn look! Many times in the past had she fallen for this look and listen to Summer's pleas. Some of which were too embarrassing to ever recount. She knew that she had to spell it out to her otherwise the bandit leader knew that this woman was going to tear her barriers apart faster than she liked. To think Summer Rose's presence after all this time still had this effect on her. Had she come back a year or two after she disappeared Raven might have been colder to her but after more than ten years?

"You aren't going to scold me for leaving You? For leaving Tai and Yang?" There was no way she could ignore the drop of life that nestled within her bosom, right where she suspected her heart to be. "You aren't going to blame me for tearing our team apart?"

A single hand found its way onto her cheek. Soft yet slightly rough. Raven hadn't noticed that she avoided her eyes and now stared directly into those molten pools of silver. The dam on her eyes broke for a single second and a tear ran along her cheek before Summer wiped it away. She had to lie if she said that she didn't miss this. That she didn't not miss her partner. "I missed you." she admitted. Even if this was a cruel twist of fate and nothing more than a dream; seeing the definition of innocence ones more and talking to her.

"You wanted to live…I always knew that…" Summer muttered "Me too…" she closed the distance between them and embraced her once more "I missed you too Stupid Bird."

Her eyes widened before letting herself get lost in the mood and putting her arms around her old friend. Never had she thought that she'd miss this stupid nickname. And to hear that Summer understood her, to some degree, was just the icing of this cake. That didn't mean that Summer wouldn't resent her when she was less starved and emotionally hurt.

The two of them held the embrace for what felt like too short to Raven, before they separated. "Sum, How did you get Qrow's weapon?" that had to be asked, because the weapon that Summer carried was indeed Qrow's yet the design was in reverse. The handle also looked worse for wear and she briefly entertained the thought of changing the leather and re-strapping the little cables that caused the blade to collapse and reshape into that damn hard too handle scythe.

"I-…" Summer seemed deep in thought before shaking her head and looking off into the distance without focus "I don't remember…why don't I remember…?" she looked back at Raven touching her face again "Do you know why I have Qrow's?"

Great. Just great. Whatever happened to Summer had made her memories a scrambled mess. "Let's not worry about that and confirm something else instead…" she had to. She absolutely had to, otherwise all of this was nothing more than a cruel joke "Tell me something only you and me know."

"We did it on Beacon's Roof without protection." Summer said with such an innocent look on her face that Raven couldn't help but flick her forehead. "Auuhh" Summer groaned while she held her forehead with both hands. The bandit leader would believe her hurt act if Summer hadn't stuck her tongue out and smiled at her.

"Two women don't need protection." she said while folding her arms over her chest. Just once would she like to be able to outwit this dimwit. "Also everybody knows we broke the roof while playing around with Red Dust, something a certain someone forced me into doing. Tell me something only Summer Rose and I know."

"Actually I heard that there are finger condoms to prevent certain diseases" _Seriously_ "And we didn't just use Red Dust but blue and green and one of your dust blades…I think it was the yellow one…and who might that someone be? Someone we both know?"

Raven glared at her. Though It softened slightly when she realized that Summer answered her question. But she still needed to make sure of it. That Summer knew the one secret that the bandit leader swore to take to her death. That was the one secret only the two of them knew and she never found out how Summer felt about it since after it happened they only met a literal handful of times. "What is the secret only the two of us know?"

" _You're the Spring Maiden."_ Summer whispered into her ear, sending chills down her spine _"I ever hated you for what happened after_ _ **that.**_ _"_ the silver eyed warrior added and held onto Raven again.

The red eyed Maiden now knew that this was indeed Summer Rose. Only Summer would know about **that** and be so nonchalant about it. "I thought you hated me for it." she whispered patting the Rose's hair and holding her closer.

"How could I, after what you gave me…us… And it wasn't your fault that the old Spring attacked you when you tried to help her." Raven sighed at those kind words. _Dammit Summer…every damn time you make me hate myself less…_ She pushed Summer gently off her. She couldn't deal with that amount of emotion. She needed to distance herself again. Even if this was her Summer Rose and even if she would forgive her for anything she was ready. She couldn't enter that fight again. And Raven knew that Summer would be able to force her into it again.

"She didn't attack me." Raven corrected, knowing that this would make Summer hate her "She tried to defend herself when I-"

"Yes she did. You have that wound on your stomach remember? She attacked you when you went closer to her and she attacked you because she thought that that you were going to bring her back to Mistral. But all her negativity attracted the Grimm and I tried to reach you when they attacked and one of them killed the girl before either of us could reach her."

Summer was there. Summer had found her and had been there. Raven wanted to lash out. She wanted to scream and turn away and walk away from all of it. "And why didn't you stop me, or her or the Grimm. For all the shit I've done I might as well have killed that brat!" she yelled, yet Summer wasn't startled by her outburst.

"Because I trust you." Present tense. "And I had four years to mull it over. I blamed myself for not reaching either of you in time. And when I confronted you I didn't know what I could say to make it better."

Hold up.

Something wasn't right with what Summer said.

 _Four…years…?_

"Summer." Raven paled, more than she already is, kneeling in front of her partner and looking into her eyes. Her silver eyed partner looked into her ruby irises curiously. "How old are Ruby and Yang?" Oh please whatever deity is up there, let the next words from this woman's lips be what she needed to here. If not. If not…

"Ruby is four and Yang is six. Didn't we agree to celebrate their next birthdays together?" Raven's eyes opened wide. Very wide while she looked into Summer's fearful eyes "Raven?"

"We, we promised, yes…twelve years ago…before you vanished…"

And Summer's eyes lost their light, falling backwards onto Raven's bed. All the while the bandit leader was calling out to her, trying to wake her up but she knew that Summer was unconscious from shock.

* * *

"How old are they now." She asked Raven. When she regained consciousness she found herself laying on the same bed Raven carried her to, with her partner sitting on a crate right beside it. A bottle of wine in her hands and now cups in sight. The cork was undone. After her crumbling down like that she half expected Raven to throw her out in the wilds. Though that wasn't important. All that mattered where her babies.

"Yang is eighteen now and Ruby turned sixteen a while ago." her birdfriend answered not looking at her and chucking down another gulp from her bottle. Summer held out her hand; Raven looked at her a little unsure before handing her the bottle and she drank the rest of the bottle dry before throwing it into the corner of the room.

"I want to see them."

Raven sighed "You…ya can't…" her old accent slipped in. She looked up, meeting the ruby irises she missed so much.

"They grew up without their mothers," the bird grimaced, she needed to fix that issue later, "And our baby girl is now out in the wild while her big sis is home. Why?" Raven averted her gaze once more and Summer rose from the bed to put her hand on Raven's. "What aren't you telling me Raven?"

"Beacon fell."

"And?"

"The White Fang turned rouge, a while ago at least, Ozpin is presumably dead and Yang…" her heart stopped, reminding herself that Raven said Yang was with…Tai…her eyes were going wide and she had to actively bit her lip not to lose it "Yang lost her right arm."

Lost…her arm…?

Wasn't…dead…

Tears fell from her eyes. Tears of joy that her sweet baby dragon was alive. Tears of sadness that she had to go through all of that alone and tears of …

"Who?"

"Salem and her for-"

"Who took our little Sunny dragon's arm?" Rage.

Raven looked at her taken aback by the familiar rough tone in her old leader's voice. "Sum, don't. You're not strong enough-"

"I am not going to join Ozpin when he reincarnates if that is what worries you." she said with clarity in her voice and she felt a small amount of joy when she saw Raven's worry disappear for a moment _"_ _We_ are going to make all of them pay for what they've done to our family."

"…N-" she held onto her partner's hand tightly, though not by much, and looked into her ruby irises without faltering.

"And before you say 'No' I want you to come with me to our daughter."

There was no room too argue. No room for Raven to refuse her. After all she used her Puppy Dog eyes for her last request. Her partner was never able to resist her when she used them and with Raven desperately trying to look away she knew that they still had their intended effect.

"Dammit Summer…every damn time…" Raven mutter before trying to stand "But I ca-"

"If you don't there will be **no** sex for the rest of our lives." the famous last resort.

"Alright but before we go you need to built up some fat you cookie monster. We can't have her getting freaked out by you looking all skinny like that."

Hook line and sinker. Summer smiled at Raven before pulling her closer to sit on the bed beside her. She leaned her head on her partner's shoulder "Get me a good batch of dough and I'll make enough cookies to feed that little army of yours." she muttered while Raven groaned.

"You do know that Tai will freak out."

"He shut down after my…disappearance…right?"

"Y-yes…?"

"Then we need to punish it." her grip on Raven's hand tightened, already knowing that she intended to run "And you missi need to be punished as well."

She heard the gulp while leaning closer to Raven's ear "For leaving our baby girls all on their own…" her free hand ghosted over the bandit leader's dress. Along her stomach. Hovering above her chest. Twisting Raven's nipple with the force necessary to make her collapse backwards and nearly screaming from the pain. "Shh, we don't want everyone in the camp to hear their fearless and terrifying leader scream right?"

She knew her smile was anything but kind and Raven was going to experience once again that nobody messes with the leader of Team STRQ. Especially her own teammates if they slacked off like that.

* * *

 _A/N: Geez, look at that I actually wrote this chapter way faster than intended...in fact it actually derailed around the end and oh boy do I enjoy psychologically damaged Summer. In case you are wondering what the relationship status of Summer and Raven is at this point? It'll be answered in the next chapter. Until then do leave a review whether you like this plot or not and I hope that I entertained you somewhat._

 _On a side note. Fuck summer -the season- its so frigging hot and for whatever reason all people around me seem to have a hard own for droughts...I'm not joking some people actually seem to have no problem that the climate makes the crops are drying up too fast and that some fruits and vegetables are dying…I have a garden so that makes it doubly sad._

 _Until Next time!_

 _Yours dear,_

 _Sha Yurigami_


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